Uncovered Truths
by rfb211
Summary: Kyle searches to find Amanda and help her handle the shocking news to come. The family helps out, typical family drama, Josh-Andy, etc.
1. Chapter 1

"Amanda

"Amanda! Amanda!" Kyle shouts, growing more and more frantic by the second. He quickly brainstorms ways to track her down. Could he try and sense the kidnapper's direction by analyzing the body heat distribution on the concrete? He wondered. Maybe he could estimate their path according to the placement at which the ring was dropped. He found all of these ideas inadequate and doing the only thing he knew to do, he ran home.

He could hear his heartbeat increase rapidly, growing louder and louder until it was pounding throughout his head. His feet began to pick up the rhythm of his heart and suddenly he was running faster than he ever thought possible. He noticed the running did not cause his heart to quicken. It was his heart that alerted his feet of the urgency. Reaching the Trager's front door, he threw it open without worry of waking others. He banged on Nicole and Stephen's door. "Nicole, Stephen, wake up, Amanda has been kidnapped. Josh and Andie came running out of the kitchen, Triple Chocolate Ice Cream covering their faces.

"Family Meeting!" Stephen yelled, causing a very confused Lori to come downstairs.

Josh caught a glimpse at Kyle's panic-stricken face and turned to Andie. He squeezed her hand lovingly and said, "I think you better go." She nodded and gave him a kiss goodbye. He held onto her hand, "At least let me walk you out," he insisted. She smiled. "I'm sorry about all this," he said once she'd called her mom for a ride.

"We're not what's important now," she said understandingly. "We wouldn't have had a prom night if it weren't for Kyle and Amanda's creative plan. So the way I look at it we owe them anyway."

"You're the best," Josh replied. She kissed him once more. "Really _the best_," he said slower this time. Then he quickly ran inside. "Now what is this about Amanda being kidnapped?" he asked, switching modes completely.

"Latnock, the ring," Kyle said unable to form complete sentences. "I went back in to get her purse and…and she was gone. This ring on, on the ground." The Trager's sat on the couch shocked. "I have to, I have to text Foss," he said, yanking his phone from his pocket. "HELP," he typed, "Latnock has Amanda."

"What about Balin?" Nicole asked, "Can we get him on it, too?"

"You know Adam, there's no way to real way to contact him. He said my mind was all I will ever need to find him, but on my way here, I thought of that, I thought of him, and well… nothing."

Lori looked up breaking from her Declan daze. "Jessi," she said, "and Sarah, we've got to get them hear."

Kyle looked uncertain. "Dude, it's gonna take all of us," Josh persuaded him. Kyle nodded while appearing distant.

A moment silently passed as they all contemplated what to do. Then Tom Foss burst through the door. Kyle gave him the ring, and recapped the circumstances. "We've got to check the headquarters, where Latnock keeps its captives."

"Won't they know you'd think of that?" Stephen asked.

"Yes, but we have to cover all of our bases. Plus, there could be clues." Foss began to walk towards the door.

"Wait," Kyle exclaimed, "I'm coming with you." Foss nodded, knowing there was know use in arguing.

"What should we do?" Nicole asked. "Should we call the police?"

"You know the answer to that."

"But her parents, if we don't they will."

"It's prom night, after-parties and sleepovers, should by us time until morning. Just wait for now," he instructed.

Nicole wasn't sure how long she could do that.


	2. Chapter 2

The Tragers remained in the living room all night and despite a few brief, sporadic napping sessions they stayed up talking, wo

The Tragers remained in the living room all night and despite a few brief, sporadic napping sessions they stayed up talking, worrying. As the sun began to rise Kyle and Tom returned to the house wearing unsatisfied expressions.

"Nothing, huh?" Josh asked.

"Not yet," Kyle replied.

"What about that underground facility in the forest, could Zyzzx be there?" Josh suggested.

"I still think we need to think more outside the box," Stephen added.

"Well, Jessi and Sarah are on their way," Kyle reported.

"That's good," Nicole answered trying to remain optimistic. Kyle nodded and his neck began to have trouble simply supporting his head. "Go get some rest," Nicole advised.

"I can't. I won't be able –"

"I know," she interrupted, "but rest a little."

Kyle dragged himself to his tub and lied down. He shut his eyes and went into a light sleep-like state. He tossed and turned feeling Amanda's presence in the tub with him, recalling the night she spend the night there. He consistently woke up having to yet again face reality.

Lori heard soft moans and groans from Kyle's room and knocked gently on his door. He didn't respond and she slowly opened the door and found Kyle suffering through the nightmare over and over again. She put her hand on his shoulder and shook him gently. "Kyle," she said, "Kyle, wake up. It's a nightmare, Kyle. Wake up, Kyle."

Kyle's eyes opened, sweat covered his body and he was panting as if he'd been running for miles. "Lori," he said, relieved to see her.

She reached for his hand. "It's going to be okay, Kyle."

"I need to save her," he said, getting up but stumbling clumsily.

"I know," Lori said sympathetically, "But you need to rest."

"I can't. I can't!" Kyle replied growing in frustration. "This tub is so filled with memories. I feel like I'm literally drowning," he said while trying to distance himself.

Lori took his hand again, and guided him to her room. "Try my bed, then," she said maternally. He lied down and Lori pulled the pink sheet over his body. She gave him an innocent kiss on the cheek and left him to get some rest. She carefully shut the door behind her and let out a short sigh of having completed a difficult job. Returning to the living room, she reported, "I think he'll sleep a little now. If nothing else, enough to get his adrenaline flowing." She sat down on the couch let her mom rub her back.

Kyle awoke two hours later to find Jessi staring at him. "Jessi," he said with a smile. He was so glad to see her.

"I would've been here sooner," she explained, "but it took a little while to get Sarah on board."

"What's important is that you're here now," he replied quickly getting up. He realized his back ached, unused to the structure of the bed. They walked into the living room where Sarah sat, accompanied by Stephen, Josh and Foss.


	3. Chapter 3

"Is there anything we can use to trace Amanda

"Is there anything we can use to trace Amanda? Anything you might have given her?" Foss asked. Kyle shook his head, wishing he'd thought of inserting something into the necklace he gave her. "Then, I think we have to split up and cover more ground. I've printed the charts, that I've been keeping on the locations of recent Latnock activity, we've already checked the Headquarters, but they could be moving around."

"Baylin and are going to start there and see if we can pick up on anything you guys missed," Sarah said.

"Baylin?" Kyle asked.

"Yes. I contacted him," Sarah retorted.

"But, I tried and…"

"My connection to Baylin is stronger than yours. Just like your connection to Jessi is stronger than mine." Sarah seemed a little impatient while explaining this, as if she had better places to be. She was trying to get away from this life and she hated to be yanked back in. This is for Jessi, she had to keep reminding herself.

"You and Jessi check out the location of the fire, where they held Jessi." Kyle nodded. "and I'll be searching other places I'm suspicious of," Foss continued.

"You're going alone?" Kyle asked. He was wondering if he should be accompanying Foss instead.

"You need to go with Jessi," he assured Kyle, "you two are strongest together." Jessi let a little smile slip.

Kyle nodded. "I'm still not sure it's safe for you to go alone," he said, eying Josh. "Maybe…" Josh looked psyched.

"Too dangerous," Foss said matter-of-factly.

"I'm stronger than I look," Josh insisted.

"Are you sure about this?" Stephen asked.

"I am, dad." He said, sounding more like a man than ever before.

"Fine," Foss said, "Come on."

"You know," Lori said with a tray of homemade breakfasts in her hand, "there is someone else you can call."

"No," Kyle said, "we'll be fine."

Lori put the platter down and Jessi, Josh and Stephen began to dig in. "I mean it Kyle," Lori continued, "It's sweet of you to put me first, but this is too important. You need his help."

"Are you sure?" Kyle asked looking Lori in the eyes?

"Yeah," she said, "he's still your friend, and hopefully still mine." She dialed Declan's number. "It's ringing," she told him, handing him the phone.

"Let's go," Foss said, "we'll pick him up on the way."

And after Lori and Nicole hugged their men goodbye, the search team was on their way.

Lori wandered around the house worriedly, trying to occupy herself, when finally giving up, she joined her mother in the kitchen. "Need any help with these dishes?" Lori offered.

"yeah," her mom said, "that'd be great." They silently stood by the sink, Nicole washing, Lori drying. Finally, Nicole looked up at her daughter. "I'm really proud of you," she said, "that was a pretty selfless thing to do."

Lori shrugged. "I only did what was right."

"There's nothing _only_ about that."

"What can I say, Kyle must be rubbing off on me."

Nicole put her arm around Lori and gave her a squeeze and they continued washing dishes. Once they'd finished, Lori sat down at the kitchen table and went back to moping. "I'm making some tea," Nicole stated. "Would you like any?"

"Tea sounds good," she replied.

Nicole joined her at the table moments later, two full mugs in hand. "So do you want to talk about it?" She asked.

"Don't go therapist on me mom," Lori said with a very teenage expression.

Nicole laughed. "Okay, okay." She went back to busying herself around the kitchen.

"I still love him, mom. But it's not that simple."

"Wow," Nicole said impressed, "you are getting old."

"Going back to Declan now would just be going backwards. We can't creat a future together and I'm tired of living in the past."

"So it has nothing to do with your father's cute TA, part-time DJ?"

"Mom!" Lori squealed.

"You don't have to tell me," Nicole responded, "you just have to tell yourself."


	4. Chapter 4

"She's here," Foss said into his cell phone

"She's here," Foss said into his cell phone.

"Can you see her?" Kyle asked desperately.

"No, but I know she's here. I can see Taylor and she can't be far."

"Where are you? Can we come help?" Kyle offered. He listened for a response but only heard the dial tone. He tried to call Josh but there was no answer.

After Brian Taylor spotted Josh and Tom sneaking around the grounds, the two broke out into a full out sprint. "Consider this your warning!" Foss shouted.

"Oh man," Josh said, once they safely entered the van. "This is gonna be tougher than I thought."

Foss nodded. "And our only window of opportunity is tonight. By tomorrow he'll have made sure the buildings swarming with guards."

"So what are we going to do?"

"We're not going to do anything. He's already seen us. He'll be ready for us. He won't be ready for –"

"Kyle!" Josh exclaimed.

"Exactly," Foss replied, "and Jessi."

"Are you sure about that?" Josh asked skeptically.

"Brian trained her and taught her all he knows. Beating her would be like beating himself."

"Which he has no practice doing, unlike, says, beating Kyle."

"Now you're catching on," Foss declared.

Kyle and Jessi came back home later in the afternoon to find Josh and Tom in the living room mapping out their plans. "It's got to be tonight," Josh informed Kyle. "You ready?"

"For Amanda? Yeah."

"Good, considering there's not really another option." Kyle chuckled.

"Alright, now let's get to work," Foss insisted.

"How do you feel about Tarzan?" Josh asked. Kyle looked confused.

"What he means is your going to have to travel through the forest to get there, but the distance is too long to walk. We're going to strategically place ropes throughout the path and you guys are going to have to swing to each, eventually landing on the roof."

Kyle looked overwhelmed. Josh broke the silence. "Should we call you Jane?" He asked Jessi. She shot him a dirty look as a reply.

"Kyle, we can do this," Jessi reassured him confidently. "We will do this, okay?" She gently placed her hand on Kyle's back to comfort him and a montage of images Amanda and Kyle flashed through their heads. She saw when they met, their first kiss, and finally them defying gravity, dancing together at the prom. She took her hand off of his back and jerked further away from him. Shots of jealousy permeated through her bones and her head suddenly filled with thoughts of sabotaging this mission and keeping Kyle to herself. It was this last part, that worried her the most. "I… I gotta go." She got up and ran.

"Jessi!" he called, but it was too late. He ran out the door after her. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing," she screamed back, tears streaming from her face. "Go save Amanda."

"I can't do it without you!"

"You have to!" She demanded and continued to run away.


	5. Chapter 5

Kyle came back into the house wearing a frazzled expression

Kyle came back into the house wearing a frazzled expression. "I can't do this myself."

"Come on, Kyle, don't think like that," Declan commented.

"No, he's right," Foss said, considering the dilemma. "It's a two person job."

Declan shrugged his shoulders willingly. "I'll go."

Foss shook his head, "it's got to be her. You have to figure out what's wrong with her Kyle. Try and figure out what she's thinking."

Kyle thought and thought about what could be bothering Jessi. He'd played the moment again and again in his head and described it over and over again to Lori and Nicole, hoping they could analyze it differently. The time was passing quickly and he was pacing around his room growing more and more frantic. Baylin had tried to help, but Sarah simply followed Jessi's lead, eager herself to take off. Eventually, Lori knocked on Kyle's door. "I've brought in the expert."

"Hi!" Hilary said perkily making herself comfortable in a chair by Kyle's tub.

Kyle looked to Lori questioningly. "You have to give it a try, Kyle. There's no denying she's a social-interaction genius."

"Fine," Kyle said and willing to try anything, he began to tell Hilary the story. "and then," he said coming to the end of the story, "I was growing worried about the mission to save her from the kidnapper's and I tried to gather strength by thinking of Amanda and Jessi took off running."

"Well, duh," Hilary said. Kyle stared at her blankly. "No girl likes the guy she's with to be thinking of other girls."

"No," Kyle said, "Our relationship's not like that."

"She may be on to something," Lori added, "She does have jealous tendencies."

"But she's changed," Kyle cried defiantly.

"Bad habits can be controlled, but never completely erased," Hilary said wisely. She didn't even know the half of it.

"It may not have been what you wanted to hear, but you know it's true."

"But what can I – "

"Nothing," she said. "The more you get Jesse to come, the stronger she'll fight back."

"But maybe if she knows that she is important to me, too, then…"

Lori shook her head. "When it comes to girls there is no 'too' she wants to be 'the.'" Kyle sighed. "but who knows? Maybe she'll come around."

"Lori, you don't understand. I can't do this alone."

"I don't believe that for a second. But if it would make you feel better, take Declan along."

Kyle didn't seem satisfied. He should stay here with Josh and Foss, they need to watch the screen to check out all my angles."

"Like eyes in the back of your head," Lori commented, "Cool," she said, impressed. "So why don't I cover for Declan and he can go with you?" Kyle laughed. "I should be insulted you know!" she said.

"Then why aren't you?" he retorted.

She lowered her head. "Because I know how technologically inept I am," she admitted.

"There is something you could do…"

"Oh no…"

"Please, Please, Please…" Kyle begged.

Lori sighed. "Fine, but I don't think it'll do any good.


	6. Chapter 6

"The Blooms just called again," Nicole reported.

"Maybe I should go talk to them." Kyle suggested.

"It's no use. They've called the cops. It's been nearly 24 hours. You can't blame them Kyle."

"Whatever it takes to get Amanda back." This gave Lori an idea and with Josh's help, she was able to locate Jessi.

Jessi saw her and began running again. "Wait!" Lori called.

"Why?" Jessi yelled.

"Because if you won me over, you can win yourself over."

"It's not that simple."

"It is. Not helping Kyle _would_ be acting upon your evil instincts. By refusing to assist him you're part of the crime. Taylor wants you to get scared off. He wants you to think you are bad. He wants you to be afraid of yourself. I found a way that you could help Kyle without helping Amanda. Would that ease your bruised ego?" Jessi scoffed and Lori continued. "Kyle will have no issue saving her. He can find the strength within him to accomplish anything for her. He can't however find the strength to protect himself."

"What do you mean?" Jessi was intrigued.

"He'll have her found at any cost. Even if it means sacrificing his abilities. Even if it means sacrificing his freedom. He's already lost too much by losing Amanda to see how much more he has to lose. If they take anything else from him, I'm not sure he'll still be Kyle." She paused waiting for this to sink in. "I know how tough it is to help out a guy you love knowing nothing will ever happen but it strengthens your character. You've been through the most rigorous training, but never anything like this. I'm not sure you can do it."

Jessi saw right through to the true intentions of Lori's challenge but felt the need to accept anyway. "Okay," she said and Lori drove her back home.

"I'm here," Jessi mumbled to Kyle, "at your disposal. Just tell me what to do."

Kyle hugged her and Jessi's nose started to bleed a little, but she held it together.

Foss went to go deal with the policemen next door, buying Kyle and Jessi some time to get on their way.

"Come ride shotgun," Kyle suggested when he saw Jessi climbing into the backseat of the truck. She declined. "Why not?" He asked shooting her a funny look.

She quickly thought of an excuse. "I want to be able to see behind us," she answered.

"Good thinking," he replied and turned out of the driveway. "So do you think they've told her?" She didn't answer. "Jessi?"

"What?" She said taking off her headphones. "I was listening to music."

"You think they've told her?"

"Told her what?"

"Anything. Everything."

"Probably not. It's not like they want people knowing."

"Yeah," Kyle said. "You're right. Maybe I'm just being paranoid."

They got out of the car and carefully navigated through the forest. "Here's the first rope," Kyle said. "Climb on my back and I'll jump up."

"Umm… no, that's okay. Why don't you just go first and I'll stay right behind you."

"That won't work. We need to function as one unit. We're strongest _together_." She loved and hated hearing that.

Lori sat at home gripping her seat as she watched Jessi climbing onto Kyle's back.

"What was that about?" Foss asked.

"What?" Lori asked.

"That conversation. They're wasting valuable time."

"Chill," Lori remarked. "It's a girl thing."

Foss sighed. "Don't you hate it when they say that?" Declan asked.

Lori got up and walked onto the porch to get some air.

Foss spoke into his headset. "Kyle, how's it going is everything okay?"

"Yeah. So far all is fine."

"The cops are on their way there though, to warn you."

"How'd they find out – ?"

"We're not the only ones with impressively precise equipment" Foss replied. "One more rope to go. This one's the farthest distance, though. You're going to have to JUMP!" He shouted realizing how quickly the two reached their peak height. They went soaring through the air and landed on the center of the roof.

"Amanda!" Kyle yelled putting his face to the pavement.

"Kyle!" He heard her cry back. The voice rang through his head.

"Sirens, Kyle. Sirens!" Foss screamed into his headset.

But Kyle didn't hear. He was too focused, listening to deeply. "Amanda, I'm coming!" He yelled again.

Out of the police car stepped an officer and a detective. Jessi whipped out a gun as Kyle looked up. "Jessi, what are you–?" But it was too late. The two men fell to the ground. Kyle gasped and stared at her in horror.

"It's only a tranquilizer," she stated unfazed by the situation. "We have twenty minutes."


End file.
